I’m answering a request for help.
New pulp author Percival Constantine posted a piece on his blog, titled “Read this if you want more Myth Hunter”, and read it I did, because I do want more Myth Hunter.
For the uninitiated, Myth Hunter is a series of thriller/fantasy novels focusing on the adventures of Elisa Hill, a treasure hunter and adventuress which is sort of a hipper, cooler Lara Croft, and whose targets are usually myth-related artifacts.
It gets more complicated than that – as the series is set in a conspiracy-filled world in which “Myth Hunters” are actually a whole group of individuals, sometimes at odds with each other.
The first book of the series, The Lost Continent, which I bought in paperback, back when it still had the old cover, was a number of “firsts” for me – it was my first book by Mr Constantine, it was my first Elisa Hill book and, maybe even more important, it was my first “new pulp” book.
It helped me discover a fine writer, an exciting character and a whole world of which I dreamed of but did not imagine really existed.
There was people out there doing what I was trying to do on my own – and they were doing it so good!
It was just great.
Soon after that I went and got me Dragon Kings of the Orient (that, again, had a different cover back then), and I was hooked.
So, what is the call for help all about?
Well, it’s about something that each and every one of us writing adventure and fantasy stories knows quite closely: to keep doing what we feel is our life’s work – that is, writing stories – we need for those stories to sell.
If they don’t, we end up being forced into adapting to the lowest common denominator – writing stuff that sells, but we don’t like.
You know, vampires in love, Goth angels, zombies and dino-porn… that sort of stuff.
Low sales can send a character or a series to an undeserved limbo.
So, it’s time to go and show Elisa Hill some pulp love – because the series is fantastic, and I want more novels. And because if you are into adventure and pulp stories, you might really like Percival Constantine’s work.
My suggestions – if you never tried it, go and check one of the books in the series.
If you have read and enjoyed the Myth Hunter books, consider leaving a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or anywhere you feel like.
And spread the word – people will never buy and read, and enjoy, those books they’d probably love but don’t know they exist.